In a Nov. 17, 2017 file photo, a supporter holds up a "Fake News" book while Kayla Moore, wife of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, speaks at a press conference in Montgomery, Ala. Would a story that seeks to unpack or drill down a list of tiresome words and phrases be impactful or a nothingburger? Worse, would it just be tons of fake news? Well, dish all you want, but Northern Michigan's Lake Superior's State University on Sunday released its 43rd annual list of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

List bans ‘fake news,’ ‘covfefe’ and ‘let me ask you this'

By Associated Press
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December 31, 2017 @7:34 AM

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DETROIT (AP) — Let me ask you this: Would a story that unpacks a list of tiresome words and phrases be impactful or a nothingburger? Worse, could it just be fake news?

The others are “pre-owned,” ″onboarding/offboarding,” ″hot water heater,” ″gig economy” and the Trumpian Twitter typo “covfefe.”

While the list contains a little political flavor, Lake Superior State spokesman John Shibley said he had expected more given the highly divisive 2016 election and a year of deepening divisions in government and the U.S. electorate.

“It wasn’t as focused on politics in a very dirty sense,” he said. “Most of the nominations were well thought through ... considering how the year was.”

As evidence, he points to “fake news,” which garnered between 500 and 600 votes. The phrase has been leveled against entirely fabricated reporting, stories that contain errors or inaccuracies, and those with a critical tone. It has even been wielded as a cudgel against entire news networks. It was also found to be the second most annoying word or phrase used by Americans in an annual Marist College poll, behind “whatever.”

“I think a lot of people know fake news when they see it. It can be propaganda, it can be satire,” Shibley said. “It’s used deliberately to paint a certain story or notion as not being true.”

“It’s the ‘pet rock’ of this year’s list,” Shibley said, referring to the fad product born and banished in the 1970s.

Lake Superior State and Marist have company in tracking and trumpeting mass word usage.

“Youthquake,” defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people,” is Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year . Oxford lexicographers said there was a fivefold increase in use of the term — coined a half-century ago by then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland — between 2016 and 2017. The word has been used to describe youth support for Britain’s Labour Party and the election of 30-something leaders in France and New Zealand.

Merriam-Webster’s 2017 word of the year is “feminism.” Lookups increased 70 percent over 2016 on Merriam-Webster.com and spiked several times after key events, such as the Women’s March on Washington in January.

Another Michigan school takes the opposite approach: Detroit’s Wayne State University attempts through its Word Warriors campaign to exhume worthy words that have fallen out of favor. This year’s list included “blithering,” ″gauche” and “mugwump,” which refers to a person who remains aloof or independent — especially from party politics.